Many medical instruments rely on the skill of the caregiver for proper use. To enhance those skills, some medical instruments may be provided with one or more features that give the caregiver more feedback on how well the caregiver is using the medical instrument. One feedback feature that has been popularized with laryngoscopes—a tubular endoscope inserted into the larynx through the mouth to observe the interior of the larynx—is a video camera which allows a caregiver to see and capture an image during the procedure. These video laryngoscopes as they are called are specialized laryngoscopes that provide real-time video of the airway anatomy captured by a small video camera on the blade inserted into the airway. They provide a video image on a small screen on the laryngoscope device, or on the screen of a device that is connected to the laryngoscope device.
Video laryngoscopes are particularly useful for intubating “difficult airways.” Although video laryngoscopes can be costly to purchase and use; they may speed up the time to successful intubation by allowing the caregiver to better see the airway during the intubation process. Video laryngoscopy is becoming more commonly used to secure an airway in both hospital and pre-hospital environments.
Laryngoscopy to facilitate endotracheal intubation is one of the most challenging critical care procedures widely performed in prehospital emergency medical care. Some laryngoscopes are designed with a camera or fiber optics on the blade to facilitate enhanced visualization of the target structures during laryngoscopy, and some of the video laryngoscopes allow recording of the video data stream. Such products record the entire data stream from power-on to power-off of the device (or stream that entire interval of data to an accessory recording device such as a computer). However, the data of value comprises only a (potentially very small) portion of the entire recorded data stream. The excess data recorded is undesirable because it increases file size and memory requirements, necessitates more time for data transfer and data review, and increases the risk of privacy concerns surrounding the content of the captured data.
There is a long-felt yet unmet need for improvements in the area of video laryngoscopes.